Unsurpassed among the woman devotees of the Master in the richness of
her devotion and spiritual experiences was Aghoremani Devi, an orthodox
brahmin woman. Widowed at an early age, she had dedicated herself completely
to spiritual pursuits. Gopala, the Baby Krishna, was her Ideal Deity,
whom she worshipped following the vatsalya attitude of the Vaishnava
religion, regarding Him as her own child. Through Him she satisfied her
unassuaged maternal love, cooking for Him, feeding Him, bathing Him,
and putting Him to bed. This sweet intimacy with Gopala won her the
sobriquet of Gopal Ma, or Gopala's Mother. For forty years she had lived
on the bank of the Ganges in a small, bare room, her only companions being
a threadbare copy of the Ramayana and a bag containing her rosary. At the
age of sixty, in 1884, she visited Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. During
the second visit, as soon as the Master saw her, he said: "Oh, you have
come! Give me something to eat." With great hesitation she gave him some
ordinary sweets that she had purchased for him on the way. The Master ate
them with relish and asked her to bring him simple curries or sweets
prepared by her own hands. Gopal Ma thought him a queer kind of monk, for,
instead of talking of God, he always asked for food. She did not want to
visit him again, but an irresistible attraction brought her back to the temple
garden; She carried with her some simple curries that she had cooked
herself.

One early morning at three o'clock, about a year later, Gopal Ma was
about to finish her daily devotions, when she was startled to find Sri
Ramakrishna sitting on her left, with his right hand clenched, like the hand of
the image of Gopala. She was amazed and caught hold of the hand, whereupon
the figure vanished and in its place appeared the real Gopala, her
Ideal Deity. She cried aloud with joy. Gopala begged her for butter. She
pleaded her poverty and gave Him some dry coconut candies. Gopala, sat on
her lap, snatched away her rosary, jumped on her shoulders, and moved all
about the room. As soon as the day broke she hastened to Dakshineswar
like an insane woman. Of course Gopala accompanied her, resting His head
on her shoulder. She clearly saw His tiny ruddy feet hanging over her
breast. She entered Sri Ramakrishna's room. The Master had fallen into
samadhi. Like a child, he sat on her lap, and she began to feed him with
butter, cream, and other delicacies. After some time he regained consciousness
and returned to his bed. But the mind of Gopala's Mother was still
roaming in another plane. She was steeped in bliss. She saw Gopala
frequently entering the Master's body and again coming out of it. When she
returned to her hut, still in a dazed condition, Gopala accompanied her.

She spent about two months in uninterrupted communion with God, the
Baby Gopala never leaving her for a moment. Then the intensity of her
vision was lessened; had it not been, her body would have perished. The
Master spoke highly of her exalted spiritual condition and said that such
vision of God was a rare thing for ordinary mortals. The fun-loving Master
one day confronted the critical Narendranath with this simple-minded
woman. No two could have presented a more striking contrast. The Master
knew of Narendra's lofty contempt for all visions, and he asked the old lady
to narrate her experiences to Narendra. With great hesitation she told him
her story. Now and then she interrupted her maternal chatter to ask
Narendra: "My son, I am a poor ignorant woman. I don't understand anything.
You are so learned. Now tell me if these visions of Gopala are true."
As Narendra listened to the story he was profoundly moved. He said, "Yes,
mother, they are quite true." Behind his cynicism Narendra, too, possessed a
heart full of love and tenderness.